News & Insights

A day after President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress in his second term, the industry remains on edge amid the growing uncertainty of what’s being called a trade war by some in Washington.

What Congress is saying: We’re starting to see public comments from members of Congress on various topics in the president’s speech on Tuesday. Here’s what they’re saying.

Tax reform: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) committed yesterday to delivering a comprehensive tax bill to President Trump by Memorial Day, according to MarketWatch. Echoing NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons’ repeated calls for a swift tax deal, Chairman Smith emphasized the urgency of providing certainty to small businesses and working families, stating, “Failure is not an option.”

• “[W]e have to move this one big, beautiful bill as quickly as possible,” he said.
• In recent weeks, Timmons has leveraged the NAM’s public platform extensively—including through the NAM State of Manufacturing Address, television and radio interviews across the country, social media and op-eds in Ohio and Florida—to press Congress to act now and make the 2017 tax reforms permanent.

CHIPS: New Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), the former lieutenant governor of the state, expressed support for the CHIPS and Science Act, emphasizing its bipartisan backing and importance of national security. “For the economic and national security of America, we need to make chips in the USA—I believe this is part of an America First agenda,” he wrote in a statement provided to The Columbus Dispatch.

• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) indicated to Punchbowl that nothing would be discussed on the CHIPS and Science Act until the president’s FY 26 budget.
• Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) said that the president’s mention of the act in his speech was “not consistent with the extensive conversations we’ve had with the administration about the many successes and future of the CHIPS program and how it helps with our shared goal of creating a robust domestic chips supply.”

Trade and workforce: “As I’ve said, tariffs are a tool in the toolbox, but they must be strategic and support American jobs—not create uncertainty that undercuts our domestic manufacturing,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (R-MI) told the Detroit Free Press. “The domestic auto industry currently relies on an integrated North American supply chain, and our trade policies need to reflect that.”

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) zeroed in on implementation of any tariffs. “If you’re talking about tariffs that are going to be inflationary, causing all kinds of retaliation and disrupting the markets, I’m almost certainly against them,” he said in an interview with CQ Roll Call. “However, if you’re talking about tariffs that are used surgically … to be used judiciously and to build the economy, then I’m all for it.”
• For Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription), “It comes down to how long [the tariffs] would last.” He said you “can’t simply turn on and off an inflationary switch” or flip a switch to build manufacturing facilities in the U.S., “or even harder yet, get the workforce to fill those jobs that would be created, particularly at the same time as you’re shirking immigration.”

Big picture: “Manufacturers are already planning for 2026, and they need the certainty to invest and grow now. We’re seeing bipartisan interest in these priorities, and the NAM is building consensus to achieve exactly that and have even stronger champions for manufacturers in Congress to reinforce what we need to compete and win,” said NAM Executive Vice President Erin Streeter.